Great post. I could relate when you said “Are these things really bringing you happiness – or are they tired routines centered around something you can’t really recapture?” I thought of my times in college drinking with friends. It’s exactly that – friends have moved on and you can’t really recapture the great memories you had out at the bars. I’m still in the same places (bars) trying to relive those memories. I now realize that there are better things in life than this. Thanks.

In unfamiliar territory, you have to be continually watching for street signs, etc. With a GPS, you don’t even have to look at the screen; all you have to do is listen for the voice commands, which are always given well in advance of need.

Also, a GPS always calculates the most efficient route, which can save you time and gas. This can be helpful even in your home territory.

I’ve disciplined myself to do that about once or twice each month, just like you do with your visits to the coffee shop with your laptop. It makes the experience a lot more meaningful.

Thanks for a great post. You nailed it.

You’ve brought to mind a number of purchases I do that are really just trying to relive the memories of the first time over and over.
The first time I went into a Subway (as an adult – backwater market town) was a wonderful experience. But not one worth shelling out ~£6/£7 a time, once or twice a week or even once or twice a month for! Only when I really really want one and don’t need the money for anything else.

Thanks, this article has a very very good point!

Probably one of the most insightful things I’ve read on a blog.

We got our own Garmin, with the lifetime subscription so we can update and find stuff on the road, and it paid for itself the very next trip. We were going to a Shriner’s convention and without it we would have had to stay at the convention hotel. With it we were able to go a distance away and save close to $100 per night. We could also go find less expensive places to eat.

I don’t drive and am rarely in a car. However, I’ve had to play navigator many times, with the ensuing frustration of the driver often escalating as directions (from friends, MapQuest, police, etc.) didn’t work.

However, in the fall, I took a road trip from NYC to Florida over two days. My brother and sister in law borrowed a GPS unit from a friend. It was so useful because we could look up places to eat, reststops, motels, etc. quickly. (I had already done a lot of stuff online but this let’s you find stuff based on exactly where you are or will be in a few minutes. Love it. Plus they used it to walk all around new york city by themselves without getting lost. I didn’t have to hold their hands or keep answering cell calls to ask: Where are we? How do we get to X? Y? Z?)

My brother and sister in law travel a lot with my nephew for his activities and that of his schoolmates. So for Xmas I got them a GPS, which they love and use all the time.

The key with this and other electronics and gadgets is whether you will really use them, versus just wanting them because everyone else has them or you think you should get one. That MAYBE you’ll need it.

I totally admire folks who can live with little and are not into “stuff” but I know that there are still some items that are so functional, big time and money-savers and sometimes just plain comforting (a good stereo system) that they are worth the investment I make in them. They provide daily advantages and improvements to the overall quality of my life. (Like hot water and big bathtubs! LOL)

But we all have to really take the time to think: Stuff takes up space, requires maintenance and upkeep, and the question is: What is the ROI to you on a personal and/or professional level versus what you paid upfront and what you pay on the back end in time, etc. to learn, use?

For some readers, a kindle, for example, is a gotta-have item. I get it, but I’m a reader who loves, loves, loves the physicality of books. But not electronic books. (A chapter here and there is fine but I want a book in my hand, thank you.)

For others, it’s a Blackberry or one of those new lite notebook computers.

New and “advanced” aren’t always better, and for the most part, for me and many others, that isn’t enough to get me/us to part with something that already works fine. (I’m still regretting tossing out an old toaster when someone gave us a fancy new one. The new one is pretty but it sucks. The old one was plain and perfect.)

Again, Trent is only asking us to think carefully about what we want, which is always a good thing. And NO ONE is immune from some form of stuff. I know folks who live pretty simply compared to many of us city folks. But then, you see where they DO spend money: On gardening stuff, fishing and hunting gear, sports events (Egads, the prices. How do families do it?)and in some cases, building materials to build “stuff.”

As Trent points out, we should be able to enjoy and delight in some of the stuff. And not feel guilty. Otherwise, what’s the point?

You don’t need to go through life wearing the equivalent of the hairshirt of frugality.

I think there are some habits that are perfectly acceptable–humans are creatures of habit, after all. The problem is that we have so many unconscious habits, and so many unhealthy ones. The issue is mindfulness, not habits.

Trent makes good points. And if he has perhaps covered them before, so what? A writer cannot assume that everyone read everything he/she wrote before.

Plus, repetition is important when making changes, learning new habits, reinforcing changes, etc.

What I personally like about Trent is that he does not, to my mind, represent the extremes of spending: Mindless consumption OR seriously questionable frugality. (Sorry, some of y’all who comment here, I wonder how much you enjoy your lives and where in the world you live. You can’t possibly socialize much or want to participate in a lot of society. Saving money is important; not being debt is important. Purchasing consciously and with thought to whether something is a want or need, very important.

But so is enjoying some of the ‘stuff.” I think, my friends, that some are perhaps deep down envious of the ability of someone like Trent to be able to enjoy some of the treats of life.

Cause the truth is, there are certainly plenty of hardworking people who deserve a lot more than they have. But life is unfair in many ways, including how people are compensated (TO the person who does NOT get the need for a GPS, I hear you. But I don’t understand the need to pay sports figures kazillion dollars to take steroids, cheat and worse.)

And please, do not forget that a blog represents a point of view (POV). You don’t have to agree with Trent. He’s not asking you to “follow” him, he just raises thoughts and asks you to think about your choices.

I’ve disagreed with several of his articles, but I still respect his POV and almost always he has a unique take on a topic that makes it worth my while to continue reading him.

I especially like that he is not a fanatic like some of the financial/frugal bloggers and is respectful of others and not defensive. Signs of a secure and confident human being.

It becomes like a drug addict chasing the high.

A pleasant coffee shop visit or meal at a nice restuarant are enjoyed in a special way because they ARE special. Eating a Ruth’s Chris steak every day becomes a chore after enough days whereas it is (for me) one of life’s joys if done once or twice a year.

Pleasure activities – not work or exercise which are very different – should be done in reflection of ‘this moment’ not historical or long past moments.

Great stuff Trent, thanks for making us think – again!
Dave

I did wonder the same thing as some of your other commenters, though, about the “habits are always bad” idea. Perhaps you just mean that habitual splurges are always bad, but that seemed like a pretty large overstatement if that’s what you were trying to communicate.

I have posted about going out to dinner going from a special occasion to being a way of life, an expensive one.

We need to put the “special” back into our lives– when we do that we will appreciate things and moments more.

The book “Predictably Irrational” outlines how habits form in a similar way that you did. It explains that when you see people standing in line for something say, a cup of coffee, you automatically assume the coffee must be very good. So you stand in line like the rest and try the coffee. If it is good, then you go back again, and then again. Each time you go to get the coffee your are essentially forming “a line” in your brain. Each time you return you see the long line of yourself (each time you got the coffee in the past) and you just assume that it is very good, every time. Before long its hard to tell if the coffee is good, or just the memories (especially the first few times) is what is satisfying you.

Yet, you neglected to reflect on Sydney’s post and how you “misread” it.